Jay Cutler: The Bears' New Focus

Chicago Bears fans have been nothing short of upbeat since the acquisition of Jay Cutler from the Denver Broncos in a blockbuster trade last month.  Now, with organized team activities starting, we are able to take a closer look at how the Bears might fare with Cutler at the helm.

There will, of course, be a learning curve for Cutler when it comes to the playbook, although he should have it down by the time training camp starts. Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner made several comments on this subject at the the Bears' Fan Expo earlier this month.  Turner specifically mentioned that the Bears would now be able to design some plays that would work well with Cutler’s strengths.

The Bears' running game will be able to take some of the heat off of Cutler, which, in turn, will help their passing game. This will help create many play action pass opportunities and allow the Bears to move the ball down the field efficiently and effectively.  This will help keep some of the pressure off of Cutler and allow his receivers to get open more often.

In the past, the Bears have made former quarterback Kyle Orton more of a game manager than anything else.  This is mainly because they were a bit tentative at letting him throw the ball down the field too much for fear that he would make mistakes and turn over the ball. 

In the past, the Bears have had to rely on defense and field position to win games and to avoid offense turnovers.  With a guy like Cutler, Chicago can open up the offense and let it fly, similar to what Denver did last season. 

Back then, however, while Denver’s offense was putting up some big numbers, its defense was allowing other teams to put some big numbers of their own.  Chicago’s defense cannot allow this, and head coach Lovie Smith won’t allow it to happen.  This year’s defense is sure to be better.

Bringing Cutler into Chicago will do a lot for this team on both sides of the ball. It will give the Bears something that they have been lacking for several decades: superior play making ability at the quarterback position.  Now, they can have the kind of offense of which they have dreamed, one that can win games on offense instead of losing them there.